Nadia heading North…

I’m sitting in a brasserie at the seaside on the French northern coast, fast approaching the 70000 word mark, and thought I’d give an update on Nadia’s progress. 

So far the book begins in Hong Kong (see earlier blogs for excerpts), where Nadia is trying to locate Salamander, and encounters Blue Fan, a deadly assassin from one of the five main triads. The first quarter stays in Hong Kong, and I have to admit that I love working on this section, because I adore Hong Kong, having gone there many times, mainly to practice tai chi, but also just to soak up the supercharged atmosphere of this workaholic city that never sleeps.…

88 North – the end for Nadia?

The cover for the third book in the Nadia Laksheva series was revealed yesterday, and a big thanks to Harper Collins for producing a brilliant cover design. 88 North is close to the top of the world, and it is where the conclusion of the three books occurs, in a frozen landscape, where Nadia must face down her nemesis.

At the moment I’m about two thirds of the way through writing the book, due out 14th December, and  Nadia is in Northern Sudan, and has just done her deepest dive ever, and I mean seriously deep.…

The lure of the deep

I recall my second dive quite clearly. It was at a place called Dorothea, in North Wales, a limestone quarry with a maximum depth of just over a hundred metres. Along with my buddy/instructor, we finned way from the safety of the ledge, and I stared down into the chilly waters that shifted from green to turquoise to dark blue to black. We went far deeper than we should have that day, down to thirty-two metres on what was a very early dive for me.…